AirPort Express intermittent connection problems

[ScottCFrancis]

I'm having intermittent connectivity problems with my AirPort Express.

Here's a summary:

1. I use it primarily in two places: 1) Chicago, where it's used with as a remote base station with another AirPort Express (it works flawlessly in Chicago), and 2) New York, where it serves as the main base station. I switch between configuration profiles and highly doubt the connection profiles have anything to do with the problem (but I could be convinced otherwise).

2. In New York the connection is dropping intermittently. I'm in a studio (small, one room) sublet apartment in an old building. The connection is usually gone for just a couple minutes -- it seems to be a very temporary blip.

3. It's not the AirPort card in my Powerbook, because whenever the connection drops it's lost on a Windows laptop at exactly the same time. The AirPort strength indicator does not change when the connection drops temporarily, though the Windows laptop notifies me the connection is lost.

4. The AirPort Express status light never blinks or changes color when the connection is lost.

I'm thinking the issue is flakey power and an APS with battery backup will resolve the issue.

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks,

Scott

 

[starcrossed]

Have you tried plugging your computer directly into the modem, without using the Airport Express, and seeing if the connection still stays good after some time. With this you can be sure that the Airport Express or Airport Card is at fault. Hopefully you can figure out the culprit.

 

[Sedulous]

It is also possible there is something nearby that is messing with the connection. 2.4 GHz phones may be the problem. Maybe a neighbor?

 

[oldschool]

It is also possible there is something nearby that is messing with the connection. 2.4 GHz phones may be the problem. Maybe a neighbor?

go to version tracker and download mac stumbler. Find out what other networks are infringing on yours, and take note of their channels.

Then use a channel that is not the same as those. Supposedly there are non overlapping channels...if someone could fill in this part that would be helpful.

Either way, change your channel, and if you have range problems, change your multicast rate to 1. This can be done in the wireless options portion, in the same place that you change transmitter power (Airport Basestation Utility).

Also, intereference robustness sometimes helps and sometimes totally screws up the connection. Play with that.//

 

[Rower_CPU]

I get drop outs with AirTunes sometimes in my apartment, too - most of the tips on Apple's boards talk about changing the channel, interference robustness, etc. to find a combo that works for your area.

 

[ScottCFrancis]

Thanks

I did confirm the cable modem is not the culprit. Thanks for the suggestion.

I will check the channels and other interference-related possibilities this evening when I'm home. I'll post a reply back.

Thanks to everyone for their time and attention.

 

[Gee]

I had a similar problem to you recently, and changing the channel did indded fix it (so far!)....

 

[ScottCFrancis]

Channels seems to have been the issue -- thanks!

All,

It does seem to be a channel-related issue.

When I returned to the apartment most of the neighboring networks were offline. I made sure I was on a different channel than the one I could see and monitored both using iStumbler. I didn't have the problem again.

Thanks much to everyone for your time and insight.

Best Regards,

Scott